In The End
by NoirWings
Summary: Damnit, Jack! Just go! I hear the desperate plea and hurt in his voice. 'Sorry, Danny, I can't do that.' MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. Tiny little plot bunny I wanted to get out of the way. I don't really like it, myself, but, meh.


In The End  
  
Author: ManEatingLonerSheep77  
  
Rating: G, (PG at most okay?)  
  
Pairings: Jack/Daniel friendship  
  
Spoilers: No spoilers  
  
Season: No particular season. Whenever the hell you want.  
  
Summary: "Damnit, Jack, just go!" I hear the desperate plea with hurt and betrayal beneath the voice. 'No, sorry, Daniel, I can't do that.' I think before committing to the unthinkable. **WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH**  
  
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Daniel's POV  
  
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"I've never seen this dialect. It looks like some form of ancient Egyptian at first, but when I translate it, all I get is something like 'The dog has no breath'. I just don't get it. Of course........" I am cut off by Jack's voice up ahead,  
  
"Daniel, shut up." I am about to answer him when my foot goes over the side of the very narrow ledge. We are on a cliff, about 50 feet in the air. Not too far behind us is the cave in which the Stargate for this planet resides.  
  
The left is small enough that we have to walk single file, Sam, Teal'c, Jack, me. The text I'm translating, or trying to translate, was found in the cave on some alien device. Jack wouldn't let me stay, but I got a tracing of most of it. I just can't figure it out.  
  
"Jack!" I yell as I fall. The papers I'm holding fly out of my hands and float towards the ground fifty feet below.  
  
I manage to grab on to a flimsy tree branch sticking out of the cliff. But I know that it won't last long. I look up to the ledge, five or ten feet above me. I can barely see Jack's face as my glasses had fallen when I fell. I curse in multitudes of languages before hearing Jack's voice.  
  
"Danny?"  
  
"Yeah, Jack?" I yell back, trying to remain calm.  
  
"Good, just hang in there for a few minutes we're gonna get you up here. Carter's got a rope, she's just gotta find it." I nod slightly out of habit before realizing,  
  
I'M FIFTY FEET IN THE AIR! I begin to panic now.  
  
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Jack's POV  
  
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'Damn it, Spacemonkey! There's absolutely no way we can get you out of this one.'  
  
I turn to Carter, "Have you found anything that can double as a rope or anything yet?"  
  
"Not yet, sir."  
  
"It would appear we do not have such equipment, O'Neill."  
  
"Damnit!" I swear under my breath before looking down at Daniel again. An idea hits me, "Carter, go check out the FRED, I know you packed most of the stuff, but since the MALP didn't notice the cliff...... maybe there's something in there."  
  
"Yes, sir." I saw that sceptical look, Carter. I know you don't think its possible, but, maybe, hopefully, we'll find a way to save Daniel while you're gone.  
  
I've just gotta save him, he's 'died' too many times on us already.  
  
But in my heart, I know I might have to, not for the first time, which is tearing me up.  
  
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Daniel's POV  
  
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'God, Jack, I know you don't really care. I know you just want to get out of here so you can go home and drink beer, celebrating the fact that the dweeb is gone. Why can't you just let me die?' I think, having already resigned to my fate.  
  
You know, I suppose it's a good thing that I lost my glasses, because I don't think I actually want to be able to see how far I have to fall clearly.  
  
And its times like these I wish I had stayed home today.  
  
Jack is yelling at me, I can't quite make out the words, something about a snake and a bat fighting, oh, wait,  
  
"Carter's found the rope, its tangled with something though, just keep hanging." As if to punctuate what Jack is saying, the branch I'm desperately clinging to starts to bend under my weight. I just take that fact in silently before looking around, squinting to see the rock in front and beside me.  
  
There's a ledge not too far from my little branch. I think I can make it.  
  
Slowly, with one hand, I reach for it. The branch creaks warningly and I grab it again. I look up again and yell,  
  
"Damnit, Jack! Just go!"  
  
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Jack's POV  
  
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I hear the desperate plea with hurt and betrayal beneath the voice. 'No, sorry, Daniel, I can't do that.' I think before committing to the unthinkable. I don't even answer him.  
  
We don't have a rope, that bit was a lie. But I can try to save him at least. We have nothing that will hold him long enough for us to pull him up ten feet. Nothing at all, and that's why I'm doing this.  
  
It's at least a forty foot drop from where Daniel is. That's why I'm lying to him, trying to get him to believe we're gonna save him, that we can save him.  
  
I know I don't have to lie anymore, I heard it all in his voice, he knows I'm lying to him. Damn. What do I do now?  
  
"Permission to climb down for him, sir?"  
  
"Denied. I'll go."  
  
"What?!" Carter asks, surprised. Hell, I'm surprised too, but what can you do?  
  
"You heard me."  
  
"I do not believe this action wise, O'Neill."  
  
"Yeah, well, Teal'c what else do you have in mind? Huh? Cuz I'm open to suggestions!" I yell at the, both. They just stare at me. I look down at Daniel and yell, "Danny, I'm coming down for ya!"  
  
"I told you to go, Jack! I know I can't be saved, and I know you don't want to save me, so just go, leave me for dead!" I shake my head at his persistence before looking for a way to get down.  
  
I find some footholds and begin a very awkward descent. It's as if someone has been down this cliff before, many times in fact. As I come down to where Daniel is, though, there's no more, just a small ledge, the tree branch, and one Dr. Daniel Jackson.  
  
"Come on, Danny, give me your hand." He just looks at me blankly. I can read it in his eyes though, he's scared of falling, but he's scared to take my hand. He doesn't think he can make it. He doesn't trust me either.  
  
How can I gain that trust back in less than ten seconds flat?  
  
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Daniel's POV  
  
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I know he's trying to figure out how to get me to trust him. He can't. I learned long ago not to let anyone in, you only get hurt that way. I never should have trusted Jack in the first place, but I did.  
  
I knew there was a reason I should have left the SGC, trust. I trusted Jack to save me before, and he has, yes, but I know he doesn't care. He would rather have me dead. He only saved me so he didn't have to fill out all that damned paperwork. And that's all he's doing now, his job.  
  
I just stare at him and the hand he's holding out. There's no way I can make it. But now that I know the truth, nothing really matters, least of all living.  
  
After a few moments, I grin at him and say two words, as my eyes tell him the rest,'  
  
"Bye, Jack." I let go and begin a peaceful descent down. I'm not panicking whatsoever, why, because I don't care.  
  
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Jack's POV  
  
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His voice says 'bye, Jack', but his eyes say 'I don't trust you to save me, I hate you.', and more.  
  
"Daniel!" I yell to him as though he's a child who needs scolding. I may not be able to save him, but there is one thing I can do.  
  
The ledge begins to crack under my weight and I yell up to Carter,  
  
"Head home, Major." Then I fall to my death just a few feet above Daniel as the small ledge I am on breaks.  
  
As the end approaches, I feel nothing but peace and a sadness I can't express.  
  
But as I catch up to Daniel I know what it is.  
  
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Daniel's POV  
  
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He's falling now too, he's catching up to me. He's caught me.  
  
"Hi, Jack. Long time no see." I yell to him over the whistling in my ears, hatred dripping from my voice as though there are icicles in the words themselves.  
  
"Hey, Spacemonkey. You gotta know something before we die."  
  
"Really?" I ask sarcastically. We're screaming at each other as the end of the ride comes closer.  
  
"Yeah! Daniel, I really do care about you, like a son, or more accurately, a friend. You gotta know that before we die, buddy, cuz I won't let you die thinking otherwise. Every time I saved you, it wasn't because of Carter, or Teal'c, or Hammond, or the paperwork, it was because I wouldn't know what to do without you." I hear him yell, and I can almost how choked up his voice is.  
  
"Right, Jack. Whatever you say." I can't believe it, but why is it I am?  
  
"Damnit, Daniel! You gotta believe me! We're gonna die here in a moment, but I swear to whatever god there is, I won't let you if you don't!"  
  
"Yes, Jack, I believe you. You want to hear that? I believe you, I really do. And I feel the same way. You aggravate the hell out of me with the amount of teasing you do about my ancient artefacts and such, but you're like a father to me. And you always will be." I see the ground, we're almost there as he answers,  
  
"Rocks, Danny, rocks." I smile and say,  
  
"Okay, Jack, they're rocks."  
  
But, in the end, we both know that we're not gonna live, but we're dying beside a friend.  
  
And the end is here.  
  
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Well, there you go. It's over. BTW, I hate happy endings, which is why I let them die. Either way, please review, be angry at me if you must, cuz I pleaded my case fairly.  
  
ManEatingLonerSheep77 


End file.
